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Daily industrial news and top headlines for plant and maintenance managers

Thomas & Betts (T&B — Memphis, TN) offers a new Surge Protection line that provides protection for alternative energy sources from the damaging effects of electrical power surges. The products are available with optional EMI and RFI filters to protect systems from interference caused by variable frequency equipment, plus individually-fused MOVs to protect against extended surge events.

Greed drives innovation in industry. While I might not always like it, when it comes time for me to deal with a serious medical condition, I want as many treatment and non-treatment options on the table as possible.
In “What Broke My Father’s Heart,” a piece in New York Times magazine a couple weeks ago, journalist Katy Butler writes about how an implanted pacemaker kept her father’s heart ticking long after the rest of his body was ready to go.

Remember that scene from Back to the Future , where Doc throws a bunch of trash into the Delorean for fuel? More and more entrepreneurs are stepping up with companies willing to do just that. Actually, the technology has been around for a while, but the market has only very recently become viable.
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Automakers are constantly bragging about their fuel-efficient cars, but if you ask the engineers involved in the Progressive Automotive X-Prize, the world's automakers are just saving face and pushing false marketing. The prize, which carries a purse of $10 million, is searching for cars that get more than 100mpg and are economically viable for mass production .

“Rural sourcing” is becoming a very real phenomenon for manufacturers, and it’s something every company should think about. Rural Sourcing Inc. CEO, Montey Hamilton, recently appeared on CNBC to discuss what rural sourcing actually is, and why it’s the best choice for American manufacturers.

Every once in a while, we hear about the revolutionary surgery doctors are performing on people who lose their limbs in an accident. From blade-shaped carbon fiber legs, to prosthetic arms that can respond to signals from the brain, 21st century medicine is proving to be all about bionics. So what happens when a cat gets his hind legs severed by a combine harvester? A veterinarian takes a big risk to develop two bionic legs that allow the little guy to live out the rest of his days like any other cat.

BEIJING (AP) — Some 10,000 residents in a southern China town have been told not to drink tap water after tests showed it was contaminated by a heavy metal, a local official said Wednesday.
Tests showed the amount of manganese in the water supply to some residents of Da'an town in Guangdong province was much higher than the maximum allowed by the government, said a town official who only gave his surname, Wang.

Increasing efficiencies and reducing costs in a manufacturing facility can be a challenging task, especially considering all the factors that contribute to expenses. However, taking a close look at a facility’s lift truck fleet to ensure each truck is being used for the right application is an astute way to help manage costs.

DOVER, Del. (AP) — The DuPont Co. says it is building a production facility in Virginia that will use new technology to improve the performance of batteries used in electric and hybrid vehicles.
The Delaware-based company said Tuesday that the facility in Chesterfield County, Va., will begin production early next year and will produce separators that can increase the performance and safety of lithium ion batteries.

DETROIT (AP) — Summer promotions and easier credit lured shoppers back to car buying last month, a relief to an industry worried about June's sales slowdown.
Every major automaker except for Ford and Daimler said their July sales topped those in June. The biggest monthly sales gains were posted by Nissan, Toyota, Volkswagen, Subaru and Kia.

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — After a record year at North Dakota's state-owned flour mill, workers are splitting up more than $1.2 million in profit-sharing payments.
The Grand Forks mill has about 130 employees. Vance Taylor, its president and general manager, said profit-sharing checks averaging about $9,500 would be distributed at a company picnic Tuesday.

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) — Competitive contracts with the United Auto Workers union are helping Ford Motor Co. bring nearly 2,000 jobs back into its factories that would have gone to parts supply companies — some in other countries, the company said Wednesday.
The Dearborn, Mich., automaker said the 2007 union master contract allows it to hire workers at $14 per hour, about half the hourly rate of current workers.

MILWAUKEE (AP) — It's the roar that made Milwaukee famous — the distinctive throaty rumble of a Harley-Davidson motorcycle. But that much-loved racket could be rumbling away to another state if the company cannot bring down its labor costs.
Harley-Davidson warned employees in April that it will move its Wisconsin manufacturing operations elsewhere if it cannot cut millions of dollars at the factories that build the bikes known as "Milwaukee Iron.

TOKYO (AP) — Toyota reported a quarterly profit of $2.2 billion, reversing from red ink a year earlier as the world's top automaker benefited from a global sales recovery that offset lingering doubts about the safety of its cars.
The company, which makes the Camry sedan and Prius hybrid, raised its full year earnings forecast Wednesday, and said it now expects to sell 7.

Industrial wastewater treatment plants have always presented significant challenges for piping systems, not only because of the highly corrosive chemicals being transported throughout the system, but also because of demanding schedules that, typically, mandate a 24/7 operation.
In recent years, however, the demands on these systems have increased greatly, largely as a result of newer disinfection technologies and chemical treatment processes, as well as more complex equipment designs and specification processes.

Schurter (Santa Rosa, CA) has announced the IEC C14 inlet with EMI filter, series 5120 ECO design, which comes in two new configurations to ease installation, reduce assembly time and cost, and provide optimal filter performance in a compact package, according to the company. The new version has flexible wire leads, which allow for pre-assembly, further reducing handling and associated costs.

Electro Static Technology (Mechanic Falls, ME) has introduced the Split-Ring AEGIS Bearing Protection Ring with Conductive Epoxy Mounting, which is designed for easy installation in order to protect the bearings in VFD-driven motors. According to the company, the Split-Ring kit offers effective, long-term protection of AC motor bearings from electrical damage by safely channeling VFD-induced bearing currents to ground.

Spectro Incorporated (Littleton, MA) has developed the FluidScan, a handheld analyzer that can be used to measure water contamination, additive depletion, Total Base Number (TBN), and Total Acid Number (TAN), all of which are key parameters used to understand how healthy your lubricant is. According to the company, 80 percent of lubricants are disposed of before their time.

Trek Bicycle Corporation, founded in 1976 and based in Wisconsin, is a world-leading manufacturer of bikes. As a company that focuses as heavily on its carbon footprint as it does its manufacturing quality, they were looking for ways to streamline their nesting for their Gerber knife cutters.
Trek evaluated the market, finalizing on two systems, however only JETCAM’s nesting and CAM software delivered the combined mix of automation and desired interaction.